international students at ontario colleges: an examination ...international students at ontario...

International Students at Ontario Colleges:An Examination of their Characteristics and Experiences as Compared to Domestic Students

CIRPA ConferenceOctober 22, 2018 | Calgary, AB

Centre for Research In Student Mobility

Introduction● The number of international students in Canada has increased 34% since 2014 according to

the Canadian Bureau of International Education

● Province of Ontario is the largest receiver and the city of Toronto hosts the highest number.

● According to the Ontario College Application Service, international students represented just 5% of Ontario college enrolment in 2009.

● By 2017, 23% international at 22 English speaking and 2 French speaking colleges.

● Since 2009, the growth in international students is dramatically exceeding that of domestic students at the system level, 246.0% and 11.4% respectively.

Top higher education host destinations world wide (2017)

Top 3 hos t cens us metropolitan areas of international s tudents in Canada (2016, 2017)

Source: CBIE Research in Brief #10 - International Students in Canada: Canadian Bureau for International Education

Top countries of citizenship, internationals tudents in Canadian univers ity programs (2017)

Top countries of citizens hip, internationals tudents in Canadian college programs (2017)

Level of StudyCEGEP 6,415College 151,380Univers ity 211,795Others 1,120Total pos t-s econdary 370,710

86,900

16,8956,535 5,075 3,755

India BrazilSouthKorea

VietnamChina

Source: CBIE Research in Brief #10 - International Students in Canada: Canadian Bureau for International Education

Compos ition of international s tudents at pos t s econdary levels in Canada (2017)

74,260

25,575

16,11510,590 3,755

China UnitedStates

FranceIndia Nigeria

Research Questions

01What are the demographic characteristics and program selection of international students and how do they differ with domestic students?

02 How do international and domestic students differ in their engagement with their education and the institution?

03 How do international and domestic graduates differ in their satisfaction with their education and in their pursuit of further education?

Data Sources

● Mandated by the government as mechanism to calculate graduate satisfaction and graduate employment rates

● Conducted by telephone, six months after

Graduate Satisfaction Survey

。Mandated by the government as mechanism to calculate graduate

satisfaction and graduate employment rates

。Conducted by telephone, six months after graduation

。Questions on employment

。Questions on further education

Student Satisfaction Survey

。Anonymous, conducted in class, on paper, annually

。Mandated by the government for all colleges in province of Ontario

。Measures satisfaction with college, program, services, and

facilities

。Measures student engagement

。Collects some demographic characteristics

Demographic Characteristics and Program Selection

Student Age - firs t year s tudents

Source 11/12 to 15/16 Student Satis faction Survey

Student Gender - firs t year s tudents

Source 11/12 to 15/16 Student Satis faction Survey

Education completed prior to program entry, Domestic & International s tudents , 2011– 2015

Credential selection by those who have completed university and other education, domes tic and international s tudents , 2011– 2015

1

Older28.1% les s than 21 vers us 50.7% domes tic

3

More likely to be enrolled in one year post-diploma/graduate certificate programs29.7% vers us 7.2%

5More likely to be enrolled in a business program

2More likely to be male

55% vers us 44%.

4

Considerably more likely to come with a university degree44.5% vers us 11.8%

As compared to domestic students, international students are:

Engagement with Education and Institution

Engagement Questions

● Student Engagement group formed in 2009 to determine how to administer engagement questions○ Reviewed literature○ Consulted with experts and sector○ Reviewed existing engagement surveys

● Engagement questions piloted in 09/10 and 10/11● Introduced as a permanent feature in 11/12

Engagement● Engagement - about the student

○ Survey questions relate to the students themselves■ their involvement or integration into the school■ their academic efforts■ their interactions with faculty and other students

● Institutions can support these student -centered experiences with specific activities

Source: Cooke and Charlebois presentation, “Overview of Student Engagement Working Group Research & Analysis”, 2009

Defining Student Engagement“…the time and energy that students devote to educationally sound activities inside and outside of the classroom, and the policies and practices that institutions use to induce students to take part in these activities.” (Kuh, 2003)

The definition of student engagement has two fundamental, inter-related components :

Ins titutionsStudents

Active participation and Quality of effort in academic and other

college-related activities .

InstitutionsProvis ions of opportunities for, and encouragement of, academic and

other college related activities .

Source: Cooke and Charlebois pres entation, “Overview of Student Engagement Working Group Res earch & Analys is ”, 2009

Percentage of domestic and international students who answered “usually” and “always ” for s tatements on frequency of active participation

2015/16 Student Satis faction Survey

“How often do you work hard to meet the demands of your courses?”

2015/16 Student Satis faction Survey

Domestic and international student response to the question on frequency of participation in clas s dis cus s ions

2015/16 Student Satis faction Survey

Domestic and international student response to the question the on frequency of participation in clas s dis cus s ions , by year in program

2015/16 Student Satis faction Survey

“How often do you discuss course performance with a teacher?”

2015/16 Student Satis faction Survey

“How often do you discuss your course performance with a teacher?”% who reported often or always s peaking to

teachers regarding performance by year of s tudy

2015/16 Student Satis faction Survey

Domestic and international student estimate of the number of hours s pent per week participating in college activities in 2015-16

2015/16 Student Satis faction Survey

Hours in one week participating in college activities - by credential types

2015/16 Student Satis faction Survey

% of s tudents who s pend at leas t s ome time participating in college activities

“How many hours in one week do you spend volunteering?”

2015/16 Student Satis faction Survey

Percentage of all Domestic and International students who reported working for pay from 2011-12 to 2015-16

“This college....”% of s tudents who agree or s trongly agree

2015/16 Student Satis faction Survey

Percentage of Domestic and international students who indicated utilizing s pecific academic and non-academic college s ervices

2015/16 Student Satis faction Survey

International students are considerably more intensive users of college services

21%53%

22%59%

Tutoring Services

Academic Advising Services

80%90% Library and Resource Services

T o enhance academic s ucces s

29%58%

39%52%

Career Advising

Finding Work Placements

T o enhance career opportunities

INT ERNAT IONAL DOMEST IC

INT ERNAT IONAL DOMEST IC

INT ERNAT IONAL DOMEST IC

INT ERNAT IONAL DOMEST IC

INT ERNAT IONAL DOMEST IC

International and domestic students show the same quality of effort; However, international s tudents are:

1More Likely to work with others81.8% “us ually and always ” vers us 75.3%

3

More Likely to state they have presented in class59.8% vers us 43.2%

5

Slightly less likely to state there is a single person on whom they can rely on for useful information

2

More likely to participate in class discussion

65.9% vers us 56.2%, with increas es in the s enior years , regardles s of credential

4

More likely to discuss course performance with their teachers

55.5% vers us 41.2%

International Students at Seneca College -17/18 Results

OverviewSeneca College has a long history of attracting international students and collaborating with post-secondary institutions abroad.

49%

49% of the s tudents are not born in Canada making Seneca one of the mos t culturally divers e colleges in the s ys tem.

Approximately 7,500 international s tudents from over 140 countries .

International students at Seneca College are very similar to the rest of the province in that they are cons iderably more intens ive us ers of college s ervices

29%54%

50%65%

Tutoring Services

Academic Advising Services

82%93% Library and Resource Services

T o enhance academic s ucces s

32%53%

41%47%

Career Advising

Finding Work Placements

T o enhance career opportunities

INT ERNAT IONAL DOMEST IC

INT ERNAT IONAL DOMEST IC

INT ERNAT IONAL DOMEST IC

INT ERNAT IONAL DOMEST IC

INT ERNAT IONAL DOMEST IC

Source: 2017/18 KPI Student Satis faction Survey

“How many hours in one week participating in college activities?”

Source: 2017/18 KPI Student Satis faction Survey

“How many hours in one week participating in volunteer activities?”

Source: 2017/18 KPI Student Satis faction Survey

% of domestic and international students who reported working for pay

Source: 2017/18 KPI Student Satis faction Survey

International Domes tic

Not WorkingWorking Not WorkingWorking

% of domestic and international students who reported working for pay

Source: 2017/18 KPI Student Satis faction Survey

ObservationAlthough international students are working similar hours for pay, their level of engagement by the measures presented here is higher than that of the domestic students.

Once we receive all of the provincial data, we can assess if the pattern is the same province wide.

Further Education –Transfer to a University

2007-2010 2011-2015

Domestic 1 Year - Certificate 5.9% 5.0%

2 Year - Diploma 7.8% 6.8%

3 Year – Advanced Diploma 10.4% 10.8%

4 Year – Baccalaureate Degree 2.8% 5.2%

1 Year - Graduate Certificate 4.7% 4.4%

International 1 Year - Certificate 5.2% 2.7%

2 Year - Diploma 7.0% 2.6%

3 Year – Advanced Diploma 14.5% 5.8%

4 Year –Baccalaureate Degree 1.1% 0.9%

1 Year - Graduate Certificate - -*

* Numbers too low to report

Transfer rate by credential of Ontario college graduates, international and domestic, 2007–2015

“When did you decide that you would further your education after college graduation?”

Timing of Decis ion to Further Education

Students satisfied or very satisfied with transfer experience, Ontario college graduates , domes tic and international, 2007– 2015

Students satisfied or very satisfied with academic preparation for current program of s tudy, Ontario college graduates , domes tic and international, 2007– 2015

Summary of further education –transfer to a university● Transfer rates to further education at a university for international graduates are

lower than that of their domestic peers and are declining over time (7.9% declining to 2.0% over seven years versus 10.1% declining to 7.0%).

● International graduates○ Are more likely to make their decision about transfer after completing their

program (18% versus 11%).○ Have higher levels of satisfaction with their transfer experience (87%

satisfied and very satisfied versus 81%) and academic preparation (90% versus 84%).

Discussion● On many of the engagement measures international students are clearly more

involved with their program and institution at levels which could be deemed to be healthy for an overall student experience

● Examine and understand these differences to enhance practices to grow domestic student engagement.

● With almost half of international students having completed a university degree the extent to which this reality affects pedagogy needs to be examined further.

● Data should encourage continued research to ascertain differences based on country of origin, size of institution, and institutional geographic location

Henry Decock

henry.decock@senecacollege.ca

Matthew Duncan

matthew.duncan@senecacollege.ca

Thank you!

Centre for Research In Student Mobility

Special thanks to Ursula McCloy and Kate Williams of the Centre for Research in Student Mobility for their help with this presentation.